Jobim Extravaganza CD

Released on January 15, 2027, by Storyville Records, Jobim Extravaganza brings the Danish Radio Big Band and Brazilian singer Joyce Moreno together in a live tribute to Antônio Carlos (Tom) Jobim on the centennial of his birth. Recorded at DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen on October 25, 2025, the album presents ten Jobim compositions, several co-written with Vinicius de Moraes and Aloysio de Oliveira, in arrangements by Michael Abene and conducted by Magnus Lindgren.The project grew out of a long-standing ambition shared by Moreno and Abene to bring Jobim's music to the big band stage. A chance meeting at Copenhagen's Jazzhus Montmartre in 2023 helped bring the Danish Radio Big Band into the project, with Swedish musician Magnus Lindgren taking the conductor's role. The result is a programme in which Jobim's songs are recast for the full resources of the Danish Radio Big Band, with Moreno's voice at the centre.Moreno's involvement is central to the project. A celebrated Brazilian singer, songwriter and musician, she worked with Jobim over many years, giving her a personal connection to the repertoire that extends beyond interpretation alone. Her familiarity with his music informs a performance in which the songs remain at the forefront, even as the arrangements expand their instrumental setting. On Jobim Extravaganza, Moreno brings that history to a programme that places her voice in dialogue with the full resources of a big band.The Danish Radio Big Band is the project's central ensemble, bringing it's collective sound and individual instrumental voices to Jobim's music. The programme moves from the valve trombone solo of Petter Hangsel on Ela e Carioca over Steen Rasmussen's piano solo on Wave to Nicolai Schultz's flute solo on So Tinha de Ser Com Você, with further contributions from saxophones, guitar and flugelhorn across the album. These contrasting solo voices sit within the larger ensemble, giving the arrangements a range of instrumental colours while keeping Jobim's compositions at the heart of the performance.Abene, a pianist, composer and arranger, served as Musical Director and Principal Composer/Arranger of Germany's WDR Big Band from 2004 to 2014. For this project, his arrangements bring Jobim's melodies into a big band setting, balancing ensemble writing with space for individual soloists. The orchestration expands the instrumental palette while leaving the songs and Moreno's phrasing in the foreground, allowing the familiar material to emerge through the interplay between voice and ensemble.Recorded live before an audience in Studio 2 at DR Koncerthuset, the album has been preserved as performed, with no overdubs. As the original liner notes explain, even the mistakes remain. The recording captures the musicians as they played that evening, without later alterations.On Jobim Extravaganza, Moreno's close connection to Jobim's music meets Abene's big band writing and the collective sound of the Danish Radio Big Band. The result is a live performance that places the songs in a new ensemble setting while keeping Moreno's interpretations at it's heart.